Boys' Hockey Athlete of the Year

Matt Creamer

In his freshman season, Matt Creamer took Rhode Island high school hockey by storm. He earned first-team All-State honors, and was a huge piece of the Hawks’ state championship team.

One year later, Creamer was no longer anonymous. But even with a newly-formed target on his back, he didn’t miss a beat.

Creamer followed up his breakout freshman campaign with an equally impressive sophomore campaign, earning All-State honors again and tying for the Division I lead in points with 38.

Though Hendricken lost in the semifinals to La Salle, Creamer came into his own as one of the best players in the state.

“It was obviously something that I was kind of nervous about,” Creamer said. “It’s a lot different. Coming in your freshman year, there are no expectations. You have your personal goals, but no one knows who you are. Sophomore year, you’ve got a target on your back, but it’s challenging, which is kind of nice.”

Behind Creamer’s consistency, the Hawks steamrolled through the regular season, going 15-2-1 before being tripped up in the postseason.

“Regular season was obviously a big success,” Creamer said. “We had a tough run in the playoffs, but overall it was a good season.”

Boosting Creamer’s individual accomplishments was the success of those around him. For the vast majority of the year, he played on a line with seniors Ed Markowski and Andrew Fera. It’s no coincidence that Markowski was the third-leading scorer in D-I, while Fera was fourth. Creamer was the catalyst.

“It was really fun,” Creamer said. “The two of those guys, we had a lot of chemistry going from the first day we started doing it. I’ve played with those guys since I was little. We knew each other coming in. We just got a lot of pucks to the net. They weren’t always pretty goals, but a goal is a goal.”

In two seasons of high school hockey, Creamer has 70 points. He still has two more years to add to that total.

“I think it’s all uphill from here,” Creamer said. “We’ve got a bunch of freshmen coming in who can contribute. A lot of juniors, lot of sophomores. It’s all positive. They’ll be some expectations, but the target won’t be on our back this year like last year.”